SOLEMNITY OF ASSUMPTION 2023

My dear Fathers and Brothers

It is always a beautiful and a heavenly occasion for us Leonardians to cherish the love and protection of Our Lady and Mother on this Solemnity of Assumption.

The Glorious Assumption of Mary proves to have an impetus to our lives towards heavenly kingdom. Her ever-seeking attitude and hastening to help the needy proclaims a great message for the mankind. Her Assumption in turn is a way to explain the extremity of love towards humanity.

To quote the words of ST. MODESTUS OF JERUSALEM, “As the most glorious Mother of Christ, our Saviour and our God and the giver of life and immortality, has been endowed with life by Him, she has received an eternal incorruptibility of the body together with Him who has raised her up from the tomb and has taken her up to Himself in a way known only to Him.”

THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (974) states that the “Most Blessed Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven, where she already shares in the glory of her Son’s Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of His Body.”

ST JOHN DAMASCENE (675-749) Father and Doctor of the Church, spoke with powerful eloquence when he compared the bodily Assumption of the loving Mother of God with her other prerogatives and privileges:

“It was fitting that Mary, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped in the act of giving birth to him, should look upon him as he sits with the Father. It was fitting that God’s Mother should possess what belongs to her Son and that she should be honoured by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God.”

This mystery is not just a space reserved for heavenly creatures but a way in which we, humans, can also participate in the salvific work of Jesus Christ. It is always a fitting model to celebrate the Independence Day of our country having Mary’s Assumption being blended in to give a perfect come out for freedom. May this 76th Independence Day be a new beginning for an egalitarian humanity.

On this solemnity as ST BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX (1090-1153), Mellifluous Doctor says

“With regard to ourselves, how deservedly do we keep the Feast of the Assumption with all Solemnity. What reasons for rejoicing, what motives for exultation have we on this most beautiful day! The presence of Mary illumines the entire world so that even the holy city above has now a more dazzling splendor from the light of this virginal Lamp. With good reason, thanksgiving and the voice of praise, resound today throughout the courts of Heaven… let us not complain, for here we do not have a lasting city but we seek one that is to come, the same which the blessed Mary entered today.”

May this Solemn Festival give us a great vision to live as a good Religious and good Citizen. Happy Feast of Assumption and Happy Independence Day 2023.

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